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The Detroit Red Wings are one of the worst teams in the NHL at this point. It's not where the team was last year when they missed out on the playoffs through a tiebreaker. And it's not where the team wants to be this season. As a result, the Red Wings fired head coach Derek Lalonde on Boxing Day. In his place is veteran head coach Todd McLellan.
McLellan has over 1100 games of coaching experience in the NHL. He also has a Stanley Cup ring to his name. That Stanley Cup ring came with the Red Wings as an assistant coach on the 2008 championship-winning team. McLellan most recently coached the Los Angeles Kings, but has also coached the Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks. The Kings fired McLellan midway through the 2023-24 season.
McLellan has not won a Stanley Cup as a head coach. In fact, he has only advanced past the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs twice as a head coach. Both of those occurrences came with the Sharks back in 2010 and 2011.
The Red Wings are hoping to improve under a new head coach. And this hire represents a departure from Steve Yzerman's usual hiring habits. In fact, this is the first time the veteran general manager has hired a head coach with previous experience. There are several ways this team can improve, but here are the two biggest areas Detroit needs to improve in under Todd McLellan.
Todd McLellan needs to improve the offense
Todd McLellan employs a rather defensive system, much like Derek Lalonde did in Detroit. However, what McLellan has not done is sacrifice offense for defense. The Red Wings have been one of the worst offensive teams this season, especially at 5v5. McLellan has the tools to correct that.
From 2008 to 2015, McLellan's Sharks ranked third in Expected Goals Per 60 Minutes, according to Evolving Hockey. They were also in the top 10 in Goals For Percentage. Moreover, no team in this span had a higher Expected Goals For Percentage than San Jose.
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He saw less offensive success with the Edmonton Oilers despite having the fourth-highest xGF/60 from 2015 to 2018. However, his teams in Los Angeles were consistently top-10 in offensive play-driving metrics. They also generated shots, having the sixth-highest Fenwick For Per 60 Minutes in the NHL from 2019 to the end of last season.
The Red Wings desperately need to generate more shooting opportunities. And, in effect, they need more scoring chances. Todd McLellan has shown the ability to coach good offensive teams in the past. If they want to bring success back to Hockeytown, they need to start with improving this offensive unit.
Red Wings players must put in more effort
The Red Wings turned in some incredible efforts under Derek Lalonde. At times last season, it seemed as if the Winged Wheel were absolutely unbeatable. However, one issue plagued Lalonde during his tenure in the Motor City. He could never get these sorts of efforts on a consistent basis.
In 2024-25, this problem reached a new low. For the vast majority of this season, Red Wings players have seemed to simply lack motivation. They have put in some incredible lackadaisical efforts during games. Even close one or two-goal losses have looked deceiving given how sluggish the Red Wings looked during those performances.
There are a lot of reasons why this team has underperformed. And this coaching change certainly won't solve every issue the Red Wings have. However, the lack of effort on display has become way a far too regular occurrence. McLellan has generally pulled the best out of his players on a nightly basis, though. Let's see if he can do it again in his return to Detroit as the Red Wings head coach.
